Wearing all white

Dolce, RN · Nov 12, 2008

Are we going to resurrect the nurse's caps too? What about the little Florence Nightingale lamps? Its 2008 folks. I think we should realize that what you wear doesn't make you a better nurse.

hummingbird11 · Nov 12, 2008

I'm a nursing student, and could never work at a place that requires white uniforms. I have uterine fibroids, and have a very heavy period every month. I always wind up having some spillage. I can hide it with a dark uniform. Thank goodness at my school we wear dark blue scrubs.I would be really distracted at work if I had to constantly worry if I had a stain on my pants!

Hummingbird:twocents:

Dolce, RN · Nov 12, 2008

I would be really distracted at work if I had to constantly worry if I had a stain on my pants!

Me too. :imbar:imbar:imbar

EJSRN, BSN, RN · Nov 12, 2008

Somehow, I am sure this is a topic that has been beaten to death, but I wanted to see what the opinions of y'all were.
I saw a member here propose in another thread that nurses go back to all white. I don't blame her for wanting it that way, we all have personal desires. Personally, I hate the prospect of being forced to wear all white.
How much? If my facility went all white, I would quit. If they told us we had 1 week, then they would get 1 week of notice from me. (I expect it would be longer, which I would prefer, as I consider 2 weeks notice to be just plain courtesy.)
What do y'all think? Would you go back to all white? Would you support, would you oppose? Why?

oppose. I should be able to express my individuality at work. Plus white stains so easily..

rn/writer, RN · Nov 12, 2008

Requiring all white scrubs sounds like you would end up with this bright, shiny brigade of band-box nurses ready to take on the world. In reality, fewer than half of the nurses would fit this description at the beginning of the shift and then only for the first couple of hours. Body fluids, coffee spills, dinner trays, ballpoint pens and more would see to it that their pristine condition didn't last long.

Then there is the revealing nature of white scrubs mentioned by several others. Even pastels announce themselves under all white. Let's not even think about plaid boxers for the guys or hot pink for the girls. Or vice versa.

Add to that the fact that white scrubs can become dingy and gray/yellow all too quickly even with a water softener and an iron filter in hard water territory

And there are those lovely monthly stains to worry about, as well.

It seems reasonable to put some limits on cartoonish prints in non-peds areas, but I enjoy seeing attractive scrub prints and colors. Patient comments indicate that they like brighter scrubs as well.

A couple of years ago, my large urban hospital changed from specific colors for specific disciplines, and it really made us happy. Some of the required colors (teal and purple) were getting more difficult to find, and it turned out that patients couldn't remember the code anyway.

They make such nice looking scrubs now. I'd be very sad to return to all white.

Flightline, BSN, RN · Nov 12, 2008

Just my opinion, but all white makes a nurse look like a student and while it may look sharp, it also makes one look incompetent.

fuzzywuzzy, CNA · Nov 12, 2008

Not only would you have to go out and buy all new white scrubs, but you'd have to get a ton of ugly white underwear to go with them.

I'm a CNA, but if I had to wear all white too, I don't think I'd look any less like I'd "rolled out of bed." My skin sucks. And my hair is usually frizzy by the end of my first shower!

rn/writer, RN · Nov 12, 2008

Here's a thought for anyone who wants to trot out the beaten horse :deadhorseargument that older patients love the all-white look and wish we would go back to the "good old days" when nurses looked like nurses, dadgummit!

If we wait just a few more years, there will be a whole new generation of older folks who have lived with colorful scubs for twenty years or more. Then if we try to return to all white, they will complain that they don't want to be taken care of by a bunch of washed-out ghosts. Nurses should be dressed in bright colors, dadgummit!

RNDreamer · Nov 12, 2008

I don't think mandating an all white uniform will necessarily mean that people will automatically start ironing their uniforms etc. I think that there are some people who will come to work with too tight shirts, red thongs, and wrinkled uniforms no matter what color they are wearing.

I think the move to all white in many hospitals is because so many come to work dressed sloppily. Thongs showing out of low rise scrub pants belly baring tight tees. Uniforms wrinkled and unkempt. If everyone dressed appropriately and neatly, the all white rule would most likely have never come back up.[/quote']

catshowlady · Nov 12, 2008

In general, I am opposed to uniform restrictions. I don't really think it makes any difference to the pts/families what color we wear, although you will find exceptions. I have had pts say that they really like the cheerful prints, and I have known other pts who will only accept care from a nurse that wears all white (usually older pts). I also think we lose too much of our individuality as it is in nursing without being made to dress alike (no artificial nails, hair short or pulled up, no perfume, minimal jewelry, etc.)

I will say that during Critical Care Nursing Week last May, we picked a day for us to wear blue as a unit. There were all different shades of blue (royal, ciel, navy) and blue & white prints - I have to say, it did make for a nice look/impression.

Simba&NalasMom, LPN · Nov 12, 2008

I wouldn't have much of a problem with it as long as the uniforms were comfortable and high quality and the facilities were willing to shell out the extra dollars, particularly for those spotless white shoes.

I would take the bigger picture into consideration....it's one thing if a facility truly wants to sharpen its image, etc. but another when some control-freak jerk is in charge and has nothing better to do with his/her time than to antagonize nursing staff.

granzanz · Nov 12, 2008

I work in a facility where the nurses really do wear white. I am amazed at how much I like it.. I always swore I would never work at a place that tells me what to wear and bla bla bla. So I can honestly say that I had a change of heart. Nurses here look like nurses not like the other depts, and in a crisis situation I can glance up and know who can get drugs and call drs ect... Our pts comment all the time about the nurses wearing white and how much they like it. I do not think wearing white makes me a better nurse, and neither does our adm. or the docs. But we all can a nurse immediately. Our techs and the other depts are color coded, and yes the pts get that info on a pamplet. If a pt has a complaint they can identify the dept a person is in easily and not just assume it was a nurse. And yes our facility bought 2 sets of very nice scrubs for each of us. I know 2 is never enough to get through a week, but hey I never wonder what to wear to work anymore...